Wood a Sustainable Energy

Timber for furniture making is only one of the many different and varied products produced by woodland. Saw mills, who convert trees into planks and other dimensioned timber, are only interested in the tree trunk. Once this is carted away the head of the tree, usually all that part above and including the first branch, is left. This can amount to a considerable amount of wood, in the case of a mature oak tree almost half of the total timber. This timber is too misshapen to use economically in the workshop, although choice pieces may be of interest to a bowl turner; it does however make excellent firewood.

I’m very enthusiastic about this other side of woodland use; it’s a truly sustainable way of providing cheap fuel for those living in the countryside and to a lesser degree even for those in towns. Townies may need to invest in smokeless wood burners making a larger initial investment necessary and additionally the firewood will be more expensive, because of distance. Add to this the messy business of stacking logs and dealing with fire ash and one may wonder if it’s worth the bother, but only until you have enjoyed a real wood fire. The smell, the crackle of the logs, even the heat is different and if you ever cook with it you will be sorry when summer arrives.

Being a real hardcore wood addict, I not only work with it, but do most everything I can with it. It heats my workshop, cooks the family meals and runs the central heating; if only I could power a generator…humm?

Being fortunate in living next to woodland I cut and fell my own wood February/March and haul it back to the house after 1st July, the day I pay the forester. This amount is a fraction of that charged by commercial sellers, but then I have invested in equipment and time and they have to make a living. However, I have to tell you that it is one of the nicest feelings to sit in a warm home eating a meal you have grown yourself all heated and cooked with wood that you cut and hauled.

Nearly all forest woodland has been tended by man for thousands of years, providing tools, furniture, houses, boats, charcoal for industry and of course firewood. Sadly most of these activities went out of fashion after the first world war resulting in many neglected forests and woodlands; more so in the U.K. than in France where many traditional trades still survive. As many people are now discovering, the modern age demands that an exacting price be paid and those who sold it to us do not have the currency. Now many people are themselves looking to alternatives in our tried and tested heritage.

Those in the UK can find more information on forestry here : http://www.woodlandheritage.org.uk/

There are other side benefits gained from all this activity, not least the care of the woodland itself, providing many kinds of resource for the community,in addition to this working woodlands will support more wildlife than those left to dereliction.